Russia estimates that the loss of access to Western technology and Ukrainian components cost their military over $25 billion, so far. That was the cost of replacing or doing without new components that used Western tech. The locally made replacements were usually not as effective as what the Ukrainians were providing until 2014. These problems are a generally unmentioned side effects of the ongoing Ukraine crises. The damage done to Russian weapons production because of their dependence on Ukraine was far greater than the Russians realized.
Invading your major weapons component supplier and alienating Western alternate sources of technology is working out just swell for Russia. "These are not happy times in Russia." Do read it all.
And Crimea isn't quite the bastion of happy liberated people it was made out to be. Really, drawing NATO's attention to the Black Sea region may not have been the best idea.
It all adds to the reputation of the geopolitical chess master that is Putin.
And so-called hybrid warfare and "frozen conflicts" aren't all that hyper-ventilating Westerners claim them to be, either, as long as I'm venting.
